Interlaken – And they're off ! The fourth edition of the Nissan Outdoor Games started with the arrival of the athletes here in Interlaken. Arriving from Scandinavia, France, Austria, The U.S and Switzerland, this mad race to produce a short film in five days starts for the five teams up for the challenge. Next Friday and Saturday, the public is invited to two days of sporting festivities, where initiations and demos will precede the official screenings of the films in the competition.

Fifty top-class sportsmen and women arrived today with big smiles on their faces, very happy to have been selected to take part in the Interlaken Nissan Outdoor Games. After an initial briefing where the rules for the competition were outlined by the organizers, the five teams set off immediately to scout the surrounding area for the best spots to film their performances. The clock is already ticking for our teams, as they only have five days to produce their film. They will have to incorporate sequences of mountain biking, climbing, paragliding and BASE-jumping within a five-minute time limit.

With many of the best locations already having been used in previous editions, the directors are already feeling a bit of pressure. Their challenge is to continue the search for originality, while producing powerful and innovative images. So get ready for an action-packed competition.

The stakes are particularly high this year as there are several prizes up for grabs : the "Golden Peak" is the trophy for the best film; the "Jury's special Prize" is for the film which particularly grabs the jury's attention, and the prize for "Athletic Performance" will be awarded to the best action sequence. At the same time as the film competition, the photographer from each team will select his five best shots taken during the week for the "Best Photographer Prize".

The Falquet brothers, FLK PRODUCTION, are back this year with a team, which has already won the event on two occasions. "We are particularly motivated this year, as our paraglider, Matthias Roten was involved in a tragic accident this winter. We would like to dedicate this film to his memory", declared Nicolas Falquet.

The RIDE THE PLANET team from France really wowed the spectators with their winning performances during the first summer edition in 2005, and again this winter during the Chamonix Nissan Outdoor Games last February. A team to keep your eye on, particularly in the aerial disciplines with the involvement of the Soul Flyers featuring Antoine Montant (France), Julian Boule (South Africa), Felix Rodriguez (Spain) and Seb Collomb-Gros (France), all recognized as among the best in the world at BASE-jumping and acrobatic paragliding.

Team GOLGHOT, who have come all the way from Scandinavia and have already taken part in two previous editions, impressed the jury and the organizers with the quality of their work, their performance and their positive attitude during the competition.

The American Team IBEX, with Warren Miller as producer, will certainly be making life difficult for the other competitors. Featuring the renowned BASE-jumper Dave Barlia (USA), multiple world champions Ines Papert (Germany), Liv Sansoz (France) and the charismatic Stephan Siegrist (France), a formidable trio in the climbing disciplines, as well as Seppi Strohmeier (Germany), a kayak specialist, get ready for some special performances from this team. To see their film, click here.

TEAM AUSTRIA will be another team to watch out for, with Flo Orley adding his personal touch with a hang-gliding performance, the first time that we will be seeing this aerial discipline during the Nissan Outdoor Games.

Passion and enthusiasm for sport will be the driving force behind this first day, where everyone is keenn to share the thrills, which characterize all of these disciplines gathered together under the banner of film-making.